Every year, when I see the “Eating Raoul” director at Lincoln Center, I know the New York Film Festival has truly begun. It’s my version of the swallows returning to San Juan Capistrano.

The Film Society’s annual event, now in its 37th year, marks the beginning of Gotham’s movie season.

Tonight’s premiere, “All About My Mother,” marks Spanish director Pedro Almodovar’s glorious return. But he’s not the only one who’s back. The 26-feature event closes Oct. 10 with the work of another constant companion of the festival, Canadian Atom Egoyan.

After swerving toward the mainstream with “The Sweet Hereafter,” Egoyan returns to thornier territory with “Felicia’s Journey.” The modern gothic pairs Bob Hoskins’ mild-mannered psychopath with pregnant colleen Elaine Cassidy, a newcomer hailed as the next Emily Watson.

The fest’s centerpiece also goes to an old favorite. British director Mike Leigh sets aside the neo-kitchen-sink style of “Secrets and Lies” and “Naked.” With “Topsy Turvy” (Oct. 2 and 3), he creates a lavish backstage musical about Gilbert and Sullivan and the D’Oyly Carte Company.

From ex-Catholic schoolboy Smith (“Clerks”) comes a comic meditation on God. Matt Damon and Ben Affleck play fallen angels; Chris Rock is the 13th Apostle. And would you believe that singer Alanis Morissette plays the Almighty?

“Being John Malkovich” (Oct. 1 and 2) generates the hottest advanced buzz among the American independents.

The fantasy has impoverished puppeteer John Cusack entering actor Malkovich’s brain through a back door and trying to exploit the situation to fund his own art.

Admirers of Jane (“The Piano”) Campion can look forward to “Holy Smoke” (Oct. 8 and 9). The film examines sexual politics by pitting religious cult member Kate Winslet (“Titanic”) against professional deprogrammer Harvey Keitel in a seductive battle of wills.

Among the unusual, and deeply satisfying, festival offerings is Michael Powell’s 1937 “The Edge of the World” (tomorrow at 12:30 p.m.). Before the British director gained international fame for “The Red Shoes” and “Stairway to Heaven,” Powell made what he considered his artistic debut on this rarely seen black-and-white feature.

The New York Film Festival is a program of the Film Society of Lincoln Center. Most festival films screen at Alice Tully Hall on the Lincoln Center campus, with a few just across 65th street at Avery Fisher Hall. Special events are at the Walter Reade Theater, 165 W. 65th St., plaza level. For festival ticket info call (212) 875-5050. Or check out the Web site at http://www.filmlinc.com